Headscratchers / The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

• How was Rick able to serve in World War II as he all but states he does. The first film established he was in the French Foreign Legion, but he and the rest of his unit deserted to find the City of the Dead, crossing through Italian North Africa (Present-Day Libya) and British-controlled Egypt to do so. This would make it unlikely the British government would allow him to serve in any capacity, let alone as a spy as the film implies, seeing as he effectively invaded Egypt in the first film. Desertion is a serious war crime and one that would probably bar someone from being a spy for any country allied with the one he deserted from. I am also thinking if they even did allow him to serve despite the above, the French government (or later their government in exile) would like to have a word with him.
  • Records and communication were not what they are today. The English government was not necessarily getting full background checks from foreign armies. Besides, he was rich as hell and that buys a lot of forgiveness.
• In the beginning when the Emperor gets cursed and coated with clay from head to toe and then turned into terracotta he is screaming and panicking while the transformation happens, but with the army, the same thing happens but it is off-screen, but we do see the aftermath and the army is standing perfectly still like nothing happened but are made of terracotta, did the army really just stand there coated with chocolate and burned alive without so much as moving a muscle?